Are you a Verizon customer? Are you due for an upgrade on your 2-year contract? Well, go in armed with the knowledge that any 2-year agreement signed from today forward is going to have a substantially awful...er early termination clause.

The base fee of $350 is remaining the same - that's the not-bad news (I mean, it's obviously not good news). The problem is that until you're 8 full months into your contract, that ETF doesn't start declining. Previously, you'd shave $10 a month, every month, off your ETF. Eventually, that'd bring you to $120 after 23 months of service, and on the 24th month, the ETF obviously went away because your contract expired. But if you cancelled say, 7 months into your contract, you'd pay $280 to escape Verizon's clutches because of the $10/month reduction.

Now, under the new rules, if you cancel your contract before 8 months of service, you'll be charged $350. Like you would have if you cancelled the day you got the phone. After the 8th month, the reductions begin, and your ETF then goes down by $10 a month for 11 months. At the nineteenth month - mind you, this is 5 months before your contract ends - it will then drop by $20 a month. That means that one month before your contract is over, your ETF will be $140, $20 more than it was under the old policy.

More aggravating is the fact that if you cancelled just 5 months before your 2-year contract expired, Verizon would have you on the hook for $240. That's insanity.

Anyway, the new policy goes into effect as of today. Contracts signed before November 14th are not affected, but anything from November 14th forward will enjoy the now even-tighter embrace of Verizon's contractual stipulations.

Comments

This is exactly why I moved out of Verizon to T-Mobile. Money grumping shit like this.

ocdtrekkie

This change is because of T-Mobile, lol. T-Mobile is offering to pay up to $350, so Verizon would be stupid not to keep the ETF up near $350 for longer.

rcht148

I concur. This is because of T-mobile and to hurt T-mobile more than anyone.
I know people who bought iPhone 6 from Verizon at a subsidized price of $200 and then went straight to T-mobile who paid their ETF. Easy way to get an expensive phone for cheap* and moving to cheaper plans too.

*T-mobile requires that you trade in a phone which most people have some spare at home and buy a phone from them. You can buy the cheapest phone that they have. But you still end up much ahead when you walk out of your Verizon contract.

ocdtrekkie

In the end, all of them will have higher ETFs. All of them will offer to pay off the others'. The carriers will just be shuffling money amongst themselves, basically. And the only person who actually loses is the dude who just wants to cancel his line, and not go somewhere else.

Rickrau5

Yes because an ETF is more profitable than a customer.

Lawstorant

It's funny that in Poland T-Mobile is the worst carrier...

Pootis Man

I live in the US, get great reception and data speeds on T-Mobile so I'm good. :)

Elislurry

They are by far the worst carrier in the US as well in terms of data coverage.

Pootis Man

It really depends were you live though. Where I'm at I get awesome data speeds and consistently good reception.

Mystery Man

Lol no.

Hector

They're getting much better. I get LTE pretty much anywhere I go.

Rickrau5

Lol this guy has seen too many VZW commercials apparently.

Elislurry

No, this guy has done his research and tried T-Mobile, I ended up paying my Verizon ETF and moved to AT&T. T-Mobile is by far the worst of the big 4, here are some coverage maps for you. http://opensignal.com/network-coverage-maps/att-coverage-map.php Even in my area Raleigh/Durham NC where it shows a saturated network the service was absolute garbage, called drops a plenty and bad data speeds.

dkbnyc

Kinda like AT&T and Sprint in NYC. absolute crap. Maybe in little backwater towns [and yeah, Raleigh/Durham NC is a backwater town to me ] T-Mobile gets a bad rap but in real cities with over a million people, they are the best.

Uh...the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill metro area has over a million people and it is also one of the biggest tech markets on the east coast. If you honestly think this area is "backwater," you need to do a little research.

No, this guy is full of sh*t. Raleigh/Durham has fantastic speeds and coverage; I know this full well. I suspect you're a Verizon astroturfer. What gave it away is that you mentioned that you switched to AT&T, instead... when their network is nearly equally developed in Raleigh and surrounding areas, but (on HSPA+) at only half the speed of T-Mobile.

Nice try, though. I just hope potential Verizon customers who are able to jump ship before this draconian policy takes effect aren't swayed by your ridiculous fantasy.

kg2105

Well T-mobile is still way behind Verizon and At&t overall, that's just a fact. Of course in some areas T-mobile can be really good, even #1 but the range is very limited. Of course he is wrong about T-mobile being dead last, that is reserved for Sprint the worst provider by far.

I'm right there with you, my friend. I live in Morrisville and I was never blown away by T-Mobile's LTE speeds. Building penetration was actually my biggest issue. Seems like any time you walk into a restaurant or large building like Target, your signal would drop to EDGE. That mainly has to do with the fact that T-Mobile uses high band LTE (1,700 MHz - band 4). Once they start rolling out the low band (700 MHz - band 12) LTE, that problem will mostly solve itself.

I actually went to Sprint. Their network works great around here. They have similar building penetration issues but it's getting better all the time because Sprint is actively testing the Spark network in our market. Like T-Mobile, they use high band LTE (1,900 MHz - band 25), but part of Spark is the rollout of low band (800 MHz - band 26) and it makes all the difference. Over the last month or so, I've been picking up band 26 all over Cary, Morrisville, and Durham. Building penetration is no longer an issue if my phone gets a band 26 signal. I'm pleased as punch with Sprint so far.

No in many areas T-Mobile does have poor reception. I was with TMO for almost 10 years and still consider myself a fan but I had to switch to AT&T last year because there were too many places (WAY too many) where I would be lucky to get an EDGE connection.

I think the problem stems from TMO having fewer towers than the more established carriers (AT&T & VZW) and also the spectrum they are using doesn't carry well.

Mike

T-Mobile will be rolling out there 700 MHZ soon and I know the Note 4 supports that band and many other phones coming out will as well.

Rickrau5

Thanks for reiterating my point.

subprime

I'm guessing you've never had Sprint. In addition to their coverage not being very good even when you do have great reception, the speed is garbage.

patt

nah Orange Polska is and greediest :D

instinct

Maybe technically true. Although, as a Verizon customer I was often stuck on 3G and it was so slow it was literally unusable. This happened to me frequently.. My speeds are BLAZING fast on T-Mobile and I get coverage 99% of the time. Only time I have had trouble is on a long road trip in the middle of nowhere.

Mike

That's the problem I have with T-Mobile when u get in them small hick towns T-Mobile calling only works texting is so so and data is non existent

kippswanson

T-Mo beats the shit out of Sprint in most places I've been, and edges out AT&T as well.

It's not just you, T-Mobile is probably the worst carrier on the entire planet. It's also the cheapest, but it doesn't matter because most can't use it even if they wanted to. Joke's on the guy who claims to have switched from Verizon Wireless to T-Mobile; he'll be back with his tail between his legs in a matter of weeks (possibly days).

dkbnyc

I guess if he lived in the boonies where you guys live, then yeah Verizon might be a better choice... But I'd put my T-Mobile service up against whatever you have any day of the week... Of course you'd have to venture into civilized area where actual people dwell.

You're on. I'd bet you cash if you could pick up a T-Mobile signal (no, roaming on ATnT doesn't count) in the moderately populated area in which I live (which is, by the way, covered by every "real" mobile carrier).

You're on. I'd bet you cash if you could pick up a T-Mobile signal (no, roaming on ATnT doesn't count) in the civilized area in which I live (which is, by the way, covered by every "real" mobile carrier).

KlausWillSeeYouNow

I know plenty of people who switched from Verizon to T-Mobile and don't regret it at all. Sprint is by far the worst, and Verizon is not nearly as good as you make it out to be.

MOST can use their LTE network, which covers over 230 million people... last I checked, that's most Americans.

h4rr4r

I switched when I bought my N5, never going back.

Johnny CincoCero

I agree...I was a bit apprehensive about leaving Verigreedy. Went to T-Mo and have not regretted the move at all. I get better coverage and speeds than ibdid with VZW. And no throttling.

ERIFNOMI

230 Million Americans? That leaves 86 million (27%) without coverage. I mean, yeah, that's technically a majority of people, but it doesn't really compete with ATT and VZW.

There aren't even TMO stores in southern Ohio. There might be in Cincinnati, but that's the third largest city in Ohio. Outside of the major cities, there's literally no coverage. Not bad coverage mind you: 0 coverage.

Mike

In Lucas County in Ohio T-Mobile has LTE and the speeds are the best I pull 20-30 mbps. While Sprint LTE is really spotty and only pulls 3 mbps- 8mbps (if your lucky)

ERIFNOMI

That's literally as far as you can get from me and still be in Ohio. TMO seems to be more widespread in northern Ohio. Sprint is pretty lackluster everywhere it seems.

Stoffers

I'm an hour from a major city and I can get upwards of 60mbps on my Nexus 5.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

You're not alone. :-)

KlausWillSeeYouNow

You are mistaken. T-Mobile covers > 96% of Americans; that 230 million is only counting it's LTE network, and not it's DC-HSPA+ 4G network. I use T-Mobile's services and find them more than competitive with Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T.

Funny you mention Ohio... I visit the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Bath, Akron, Shaker Heights, and Aurora areas frequently, but I've also done two cross-state road trips, in which I visited Louisville, KY and Pittsburgh, PA (with a brief sojourn to rural NY), over the course of a month. All of my other traveling companions had Verizon, I was the only T-Mobile subscriber. Throughout the trip, not only did I have LTE in some strange places where my Verizon cohorts were stuck with 3G, but the level of service quality was absolutely on par with Verizon. In super-rural areas, I was on 2G/EDGE, but the difference is my internet was usable (at least for Google Maps and web browsing), whereas their EV-DO 3G (and in one rare case, VZW LTE) was utterly useless and refused to load anything. That makes me think there was a resources/backhaul issue in those areas, but that's the sort of thing everyone sh*ts on T-Mobile about so I'm not letting that one pass. When both services had LTE, T-Mo was so much faster it wasn't even a comparison. Verizon's network, even on LTE, is SLOW.

Anyhow, I disagree with your assessment of Ohio. With 700 MHz rolling out in many markets, too, things are only getting better. But Ohio is NOT a good example of a general region with poor service.

ERIFNOMI

That's great. But I'm telling you, there's nothing here. Look at Athens, OH. There's service on campus of course, but that quickly falls to dick all as you leave campus. I swear to you, there are no TMO stores here to even go and try their service.

You hit central to northern Ohio, went down to south-west Ohio, and you drove through to central/eastern Ohio. You somehow managed to miss the area of Ohio I meant. South to South-east Ohio has nothing. And just driving on the interstate doesn't prove anything. Everyone has good coverage on most of I77, I70, I270 etc.

Go on and on about how great their service is as much as you'd like. but there is NO fucking service here. I want to give it a shot, but there aren't even stores, not even so much as a small kisok for me to try out a phone. I'd have to do it all online.

Maybe if they're still doing that trial SIM thing if and when I get a Nexus 6, I'll stress test it and see where I can and can't get service. But back home (I'm still hanging onto my unlimited data on a family plan) the entire coverage map, from TMO's site, says "service partner." All of West Virginia, which is just a short drive away, also has just "service partner" coverage. So at best, Verizon will lose one subscriber with Unlimited data. They'd probably be happy to get rid of me.

Mike

I don't know the population there but T-Mobile may be slow to update there network in your part of Ohio if they feels your market isn't valuable or it can be your in the country with a lot of trees and T-Mobile knows until the 700 MHz launch there service will not be worth while where u live

ERIFNOMI

Maybe TMo doesn't think it's valuable, but VZW has had LTE there for a long time.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Interesting. Well, I hope you can come over soon. :-) It doesn't look like you should abandon all hope, at least they're expanding their footprint. And online isn't a bad way to do things, anyway - yes, I understand stores are an important thing to have, but to give you an idea I live in a native coverage area with many corporate stores and I still opt to do most of my stuff online or on the phone.

Correction, T-Mobile is by far the worst. First place is a close tie between Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and ATnT by comparison.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Troll much? Must I really point out the glaring issues with your assessment, or are you just kidding?

In most places, T-Mobile works as well, if not better, than Verizon and AT&T (and nearly always better than Sprint, everywhere). AT&T roaming is so incredibly rare for most subscribers that it's virtually nonexistent.

Verizon is no real prizewinner. Draconian billing practices, incompetent support, and America's second-slowest LTE network and a blanket of slow LTE and very-slow EV-DO 3G in areas you'll never, ever visit. T-Mobile more than meets the needs of most Americans, and it's usually fear or ignorance that keep people from doing so.

I could ask you the same question. I would make some kind of remark that totally tears apart the second paragraph of your comment, but I'm pretty sure you're just writing a joke to find out what the response will be, so I'll just leave it at that unless you have anything constructive to add.

alexcue

Seems like every time I hear some switch successfully to TMobile, they live in a dense urban area. Here in Iowa, TMobile is non-existant, AT&T is a fair bit worse than VZW, and US Cellular, our large regional, is good-but only in the tri state area. Only VZW gets me from rural BFE Iowa to DSM, MPLS, CHI and the east coast without any hiccup.

Trust me, I wish I wasn't on Verizon, but for some folks, it's all we have.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Essentially, T-Mobile is known as iWireless in your area, though. Have you tried them? I believe that even if you leave the iWireless native coverage area, your normal rate plan applies on T-Mobile without automatically-throttled speeds...

Stoffers

I've been on T-Mobile (paid Verizon $180 to let me leave) since December of '12 and have no intention of going back.

80hd

I left Verizon for Tmobile over a year ago and I don't miss the higher bills or shitty phone selection at all. Tmobile doesn't have 20Mb out in BFE, but they are just as good as verizon when you're in the suburbs which is all that matters to me.
After all the net neutrality garbage and the fact that they have taken billions of subsidy money and just pocketed it, I wouldn't go back to Verizon unless they were the last carrier left - and then it would be a big "maybe".

TL:DR; 20% better coverage, 60% higher bill, 400% more shady of a company. No thanks times a million.

Lol, "20% better" is rather generous; more like 200%.
Like I said before, you get what you pay for.

Mike

If you live in a small town or in the woods T-Mobile is not for u . but if you live in a Major city/suburans or a middle sized city T-Mobile is the best. In Metro Detroit T-Mobile won the best overall data speed in a recent test and I get 30-40 mbps

Thank you. It's people like you that brings us closer to bringing down shitrizon, unlike those who, when presented with adequate choice in their area (such as towns or cities), keep taking it in the ass because, "they like it". The key is to show that shitrizons antics will no longer work on customers.

X-D

motherfuckers

Chris Hilbert

I feel like Verizon is trying to milk T-Mobile/Sprint for every penny. They're doing this for all the people that are buying top tier phones and then doing an ETF immediately for T-Mobile/Sprint.

Willie D

Except you cant use Verizon devices on Sprint (MEID/ESN need to be in Sprint's data base to start, and they don't add any that are not Sprint owned) - plus who wants a Verizon GSM enabled device, when T-Mobile has better ones, with GoGo enabled, and WiFi Calling and fine tuned for all their networks.

Eh, you could still buy the priciest phone Verizon's got (6 Plus), sell it, eat the ETF, and then have T-Mobile reimburse you when you switch. It's a tidy profit if you're patient.

Willie D

T-Mobile only allows ETF buyout if you trade in a device (so use an old one, not the new one) AND start a new EIP plan. So there is that, which generally prevents majority of people from making a quick buck.

Chris Hilbert

Any old phone works for the trade-in. I know people (self included) trading in old RAZRs and so forth. Best Buy sells some cheap $20 or so prepaids as well as any used junker off Craigslist.

Chris Hilbert

Some like the Moto X and iPhones work interchangeably on most carriers. However, I know some people do this and flip the phone on eBay/Craigslist/Swappa.

Willie D

While this is true, the Verizon side can be locked out - and with carriers now being on the blacklist scheme, if you dont pay off the ETF, they can still tie the device to the line and blacklist it, meaning no carrier could activate it.

Mike

you can still sell it even if it's blacklisted in the USA when oversea's it's not blocked.

ocdtrekkie

Which is a sensible decision.

tim242

That won't affect those people. The ETF has been 350 for month 1, 340 for month 2. 10 bucks is not going to sway a switcher.

Ben

Well T-Mobile and Sprint will be paying Verizon more when people jump over now.

I got my order in just 2 days ago. Unfortunately mine won't ship until the 26th.

letsplaaay

One of the best things I've done in the past year was ditching VZW for T-mobile.

vdefender

Me too, so glad that I don't have shrug everytime I see a post about Verizon anymore, instead I laugh!

Nick

Same

gladgura

Other than their coverage what good reasons are there to sign-up for Verizon Wireless?

Willie D

Coverage as a reason is rapidly shrinking anyway - T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have all beefed up coverage, and are continuing to do so.

KojiroAK

Masochism

tim242

That is the only reason people really need...

blarg

And some people still think this criminal syndicate known as Verizon should have the power to decide how neutral your internet traffic is... *shudder*

blindexecutioner

Looks like they are taking a jab at T-mobile more than really affecting many Verizon subscribers. I doubt many people will drop out of a contract especially within the first year unless T-mobile is paying for it.

Ali

This would suck if I went and bought a expensive phone that is subsidized by the contract and I decided to go to tmobile to get my etf paid for and I have to trade in that phone. I would gain nothing for the phone. But if I get a cheap phone and im stuck with 2 years, I would easy give up that cheap phone to leave my contract.

Willie D

You can use an older device (it does not have to be the current device connected to the contract) in order for T-Mobile to pay off the ETF. You use that device to trade in, and use credit toward a new device. When T-Mobile offered this for me, I used a Sprint BlackBerry, in conjunction with their $200 BlackBerry trade in offer (to trade into any device) to apply credit that toward a device I already had on an existing EIP on a line of service existing - then I started a new EIP on the new line I ported in and it was accepted. The system is rather flexible in that you can use ANY device, even an old one, it is not tied to when the contract started, and the device credit for trade in CAN be used if you already have a line and are porting in a new line. The main thing is trading in SOMETHING and starting a NEW EIP - thats the basics.

Ali

It would be too much hassle for majority of customers. But if you like crunching numbers then props to ya.

Just_Some_Nobody

At what point is "the best network" still worth all this?

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Especially when it's not really "the best network..."

tim242

Yrles, it really is.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

If you love super-slow EV-DO 3G and the nation's second-slowest LTE network (just ahead of Sprint), it is.

But I can see why a VZW employee like yourself would think that, after staring at those comparative coverage maps that Verizon puts out all day. (After all, it's not like they were partially fabricated, and has thrust Verizon into ongoing litigation.)

tim242

I haven't seen 3G in years, on Verizon. I get 35-50 Mbps speed. Calling me a Verizon employee is idiotic. I tested out T-Mobile for a week. I live in a T-Mobile LTE market. Their map shows I should have great LTE. It goes to EDGE in most buildings. It is EDGE on my street. As soon as I turn into my driveway, it goes to GPRS. Now that is slow! All of the suburbs are EDGE. It's useless. Verizon has LTE in my entire state. Next.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Forgive me; I don't make it a habit to memorize the biography of occasional AP commentators, but you've mentioned in the past that you have some affiliation with Verizon, if I'm not mistaken (and I don't believe I am).

Your case sounds extraordinarily rare. And I don't want to nitpick (because I'm no fool, I understand that there are some areas where ALL carriers struggle), but your case is hardly representative of most of T-Mobile's customers. T-Mobile's robust network works as well, if not better, than most of its competitors in most markets, and deserves far more credit than you give it.

Justin

Cricket and T-Mobile should be the first thing on peoples' minds after reading this. Switched to Cricket months ago from VZW and I am loving it.

uncfan1

Same. With Cricket, my first month is $35 for unlimited txt, unlimited talk, and a GB of fast enough LTE data all on AT&T. The data works perfectly for everything I do, honestly don't know why people need 5MB+ data speeds.

J. Dubya G.

This is only on new contracts.don't like the terms, don't sign the contract. simple as that.
Get off the subsidized device train and control your own mobile destiny...

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Some carriers, like Verizon, make it extremely difficult to do so. This is why I suggest switching from that stank-ass company to a provider that doesn't have contracts at all, like T-Mobile.

J. Dubya G.

How is it difficult to pay retail for a device and stay off contract?

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Have you even tried Verizon? And regardless, do you really think the average consumer is going to pick an unsubsidized device at Verizon? Not only is it not heavily stressed, but their entire sales force is bred from birth to dissuade consumers from doing just that.

J. Dubya G.

I've been on Verizon for 10 years. I have unlimited data on one line, 2 gig on a second, and 2 dumb phones for the kids.
None of my devices are subsidized. I am not on a contract. My plan is month to month. If you're not brave enough to stand up to a pimply-faced sales geek and get what you want, T-Mobile is probably your best option. I live in the far western suburbs of Chicago and Verizon is the only carrier with coverage worth a damn.

tim242

T-Mobile has contracts, it's just on the device instead of the service. If you leave T-Mobile early, you still have to pay off the phone, which will most times cost more than an ETF on another carrier.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Lol... that's tragically incorrect. Except your "ETF" on T-Mobile, if that's what you want to call it, is wholly dependent on what device you purchase. I don't remember the last time you could choose your ETF on Verizon.

Additionally, there's noting stopping you from paying off the EIP all at once. I love it when Verizon employees start claiming that an EIP = ETF, as if T-Mobile should just expect all its customers to be 100% honest and pay for a device to its entirety in good faith. Obviously, some contractual obligation on a device purchase (which unlike Verizon, is not tied to a service plan) is necessary, just like it would be at ANY mainstream retailer.

tim242

It's wholly dependent on which device you buy? You won't buy one on T-Mobile for less than 350. Paying off the EIP all at once still costs more than buying it subsidized on Verizon, then paying the ETF if you cancel.

TSON1

lmfao see ya! off to t-mobileland!

Jonathan Harris

Would switch to tmo but I'm not paying the phone bill and tmo connection sucks where I go to school, but does this affect new contracts, like if you are currently on a contract and you are about to renew?

NemaCystX

Verizon doing their crap again...

I left because of their shitty policies and coverage where I needed it and they tried to charge me $375 (including my monthly charges, which I had already paid)

Needless to say I reported it to the BBB and it went to collections and I fought it and eventually I ended up just having to pay $125 of that, which was absolutely ridiculous. They threatened and harassed me daily until it was settled so I settled with the collection agency, brought my credit score down a little but no damage was done

hanfeedback

They are probably doing this for Tmobile, however TMobile and Sprint can simply put some sort of restrictions on the offer so that it's harder to do once you have become a Tmobile customer.

ccccc

Verizon is becoming more and more like a cable company

y8s

verizon IS my cable company.

Mr. Mark

How can a company as big as Verizon just blatantly shit on its own customers without a second thought? I mean seriously, it requires some bold, narcissist audacity to literally screw over your own customers like this. I have no idea how they are still in business. Our country is obviously populated with push-overs. =

primalxconvoy

Like I said, Japanese companies have been treating their customers like this for years. When your government gets as corrupt as Japan's, big businesses thrive.

sssgadget

>How can a company as big as Verizon just blatantly shit on its own customers without a second thought?

Because Verizon customers don't bother to read terms or care enough to switch carriers? Maybe they are stuck with Verizon and won't be affected by this change as they won't leave.

schlanz

most customers dont break their contract in the first place so I would bet 99% of VZW customers will not give one damn about this etf policy change. honestly its not worth getting so emotional over, you may want to check yourself.

Mr. Mark

I may want to check myself because of one comment questioning why Verizons customers allow themselves to get into shitty contracts? http://replygif.net/i/166.gif

schlanz

its just not a policy change that effects many people in the first place, and its not worth letting yourself get so worked up about it. life is too short to get so angry about the way a company does business- especially when you have the choice to not be their customer.

I hate verizon... damn there good service... Also i made the switch but its tough sometimes.

Chika

Douche bags.

primalxconvoy

In Japan, this had always been the case. Early termination means that you pay about 60 dollars termination fee PLUS the money back on the "discounts" given to subsidise the phone you were paying back each month, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CONTRACT.

CoreRooted

Not the first time I have read this... We in the US bash our carriers for ETFs, however they took the template from Japan.

GazaIan

And this is why you need to switch to T-Mobile. There's no such thing as an ETF at T-Mobile.

Droid22

All carriers have that same plan, its just T-Mobiles is cheaper. You still have to give the phone back unless you go the whole 24 months.

GazaIan

Except where that's not the case. If you cancel your service with T-Mobile, all you have to do is pay the remaining balance. The phone isn't free, you chose to pay for the phone. You can keep it and pay the remainder, or you can bring it back and they'll give you a credit and apply it and you pay the remainder after that. If you already paid off the phone before the time is up, you have nothing to pay for. If you brought your own phone, you have nothing to pay for. With the others, you still pay a fee no matter what.

Smashley

T-Mobile does have ETF's. They just make you pay for the entire phone. THAT'S THE SAME AS ETF's. One could argue EVERYONE pays ETF's at T-Mobile.

GazaIan

Except that's not a fee, that's called paying for your phone. You bought a phone, obviously you're going to have to pay for it. With the others, even if you bring your own phone or pay upfront, you still pay a fee for canceling your contract.

It should be common sense that if you get a phone, you have to pay for the phone. Did you really think you were going to walk off free after putting $99 down for an iPhone?

And like I've said before, if you bring your own phone to T-Mobile, you can cancel at your discretion with nothing to pay, because you've already paid for the phone. Same if you pay for your phone upfront. Same if you pay off your phone early.

Smashley

Right, and I get all that. But getting a phone for $199 then paying $350 ETF = just buying the phone anyways. $199 and finishing out a contract means your phone was $199. BTW, I'm on T-Mobile and love it.

NinoBr0wn

They may have a lot of coverage and a powerful network, but at what cost? Verizon is so blatantly anti-consumer with so many practices, it's not even funny at this point. I don't know why they have so many subscribers.

Muhammad Tello

No other options. But trust me, when I finally moved, and had more option, I immediately moved to T-Mobile

Kevets

Or, there's the option of riding out the two-year commitment period that you agreed to. I'm guessing most people would be satisfied with that.

lcasale

Best verizon logo ever

RobinDTaxpayer

I loathe Verizon Wireless and Comcast equally. Really, really loathe. Everything each does is specifically designed to encourage me to loathe even more.

schlanz

why anyone would break their contract beyond moving out of the coverage footprint is beyond me, probably because some ridiculous expectations weren't met, like not being able to upgrade again in the middle of the contract after breaking a device and not having insurance.

Mista_Mr

And that is why i would never go to verizon!!

dwasifar karalahishipoor

Money-grubbing nasty-ass pirates.

My numbers ported earlier than I expected, only five days before the end of my Verizon contract, and they hit me with $120 per line in ETFs and would not budge. Their position was that I had ended the contract by porting the numbers; my position was that I was perfectly willing to pay out the contract and it was THEY who had ended it. But they were completely, utterly obstinate and inflexible. I had to escalate all the way up to their VP of customer service for North America, and even then I only got about half.

Never again. Never, ever again will I do business with Verizon. Never never never.

RH

Switched to an MVNO years ago. The money I save, I could if I wanted to, buy a new phone off contract and still be miles ahead. I just keep my device for 2-3 years and then buy a last years model. Buying a new one every 3-6-9 months is nuts unless you can unload your old phone for about what you paid for it.

Droid22

Also depends on the phone for signal. My G2 on Verizon would go in and out of LTE to 3G. My Droid Turbo has never seen 3G, only LTE. I had a Samsung, LG and now Motorola and the Moto has the best radios. That can make a difference in how you feel about Verizon's network.

Nathan J

Is breaking an ETF something people do enough for it to matter?

I had T-Mobile once. They were selling cellular service plans to North Carolinians out of Virginia on the promise that they'd move into NC soon. That didn't happen, and 2 months out of my 12-month contract, they released me and waived the ETF. I didn't ask them to, I just complained about their roaming partners. Cingular and Suncom. Should date the issue for ya, if not it was around 2005-2006. Switched to US Cellular and kept them until this year. Their roaming sucks, too. It's on Sprint.

Became part of the problem by switching to Big Red, but I got an HTC One M8 and, camera aside, I still think it's the phone of the year. IMO, anyway. They haven't really done me wrong yet. Got hit with a $15 fee for going over my data limit, though their widget says I didn't. I'm taking that one, though, because I did come within 300KB, so, I was kind of a smart ass there. I've been better since.

So if I switch to T-Mobile, T-Mo will pay off my ETA? I signed up with Big Red in the middle of June, so... $300 I suppose? Yeah, it's tempting. I know full well T-Mo are the good guys. And they just (this year I think) opened up shop in Greenville, NC, where I live. I fully intend on giving T-Mobile a chance when my contract's up. Are they still doing that one-week trial with the iPhone? I don't particularly care for the handset, but it's as good as any to test a cellular network, I suppose. If they still have that, maybe I'll do it next year when I go on vacation. Try their service up and down the East Coast. If it works good, maybe I'll switch.

People say Verizon's bad, but isn't breaking a contract a dishonorable thing to do in your book? Stinks of hypocrisy. I know the contract is written so you can ETF out, but if we're saying Big Red is the bad guys for shady behavior... seems prudent to avoid shady behavior as well. Especially the guy talking about buying an expensive phone, ETF'ing out, and switching. If you're in it to rip off Big Red, however bad they may be, you don't get to claim the moral high road. And people like that are (probably part of) the reason ETF's are high to start with. I'm just sayin', play fair.

Emile’sGhost

That is the single most moronic post I've read today, and iy's barely 10AM. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to cancel service you twit.

Stoffers

You act like a cell carrier contract is equivalent to anything other than a bunch of legalese to steal as much money from you as possible. It's not dishonorable to cut your cell service, it's common sense when they are raping your bank account.

Nathan J

"Raping your bank account"? Considering you're told the prices up front (or at least I was, YMMV), that's a pretty insensitive turn of a phrase to women who were violated against their will. I pay Verizon $80 a month. I agreed to that before I put pen to paper and signed anything. Nothing was taken against my will. Yeah, it's higher than T-Mobile, but I made the choice to go with Verizon because I like having cellular signal.

I let the other guy go because his horrendous spelling spoke for itself, but since you bring it up as well, what I meant was dishonorable was what that other guy was talking about doing, elsewhere in the comments, flipping the iPhone 6+ for a profit. Sure, there are plenty of legit reasons to cancel, which is why the ETF exists. It's high, sure, partly due to corporate greed, but also to subsidize people who take advantage of loopholes. Blaming it all on the big corporation who made the mistake of putting up cell towers damn near everywhere while some jerk boasts about ripping them off in broad daylight, is disingenuous at best.

I get that a lot of people hate Verizon. They aren't my favorite company. But give them credit where it's due. When the iPhone came out, it was AT&T only. Like the HTC First and Amazon Fire Phone, I thought, hey that's cool, but I'm not moving to a big city to get a damn phone. Then Verizon came out with the DROID and embraced Android with open arms. For their part, probably to get at AT&T by downplaying the iPhone, by promoting a viable competitor. A lot of people say Samsung made Android what it is today. What about Verizon's part? Here in America, carriers are the gatekeepers to what phone you have. US Cellular only just got the iPhone last year. Before then, if you wanted a top-shelf smartphone in the rural South, you were looking at Samsung. Now, US Cellular is bringing Apple's iPhone to the last mile. In 2008-2009, Verizon brought Android to the masses. I'm not saying kiss their collective arses, but weigh the good against the bad.

Stoffers

They embraced Android with open arms, then proceeded to shit all over it and are the worst carrier for you if you like Android. I got the OG DROID and it was one hell of a phone, btu ever since it they've done nothing but add more and more worthless bloat.
Fuck Verizon, they are a terrible company who literally hates their customers, they don't give a fuck about you, they know you'll keep paying them even if they fuck your wife and murder your children.

Ashley

Sure, but with T-Mobile, everyone pays ETF's in the sense that there are no discounted phones. A $199 phone on Verizon is $600+ on T-Mobile.

tdizzel

I don't see the problem. If you don't want an ETF, don't leave. Or don't sign a contract in the first place. Too many entitled twits just look at a contract as a way to get a phone they can't really afford and don't realize its a legally binding document. Verizon is doing absolutely nothing wrong here.

Electrofryed

This is just one of many reasons t-mobile is kicking butt in sales.. I can't wait for a TMO tower to pop up near me.

TBolt

I don't mind paying more for awesome coverage. But, I no longer buy phones on contract. My family knows ... pay full retail or gtfo of my shared account.

Unfortunately until some other carrier rises to the level of coverage that Verizon has many of us are held hostage to staying with them.
Regardless of how many pipes we are forced to take horizontally!

frustrate

Well my Verizon contract is up in 8 days and they want $120 to cancel or upgrade still per phone. My contract is from Nov 30 2012 so they are in fact applying these new rules to old contracts where basically as long as you paid up they would let you upgrade in the last month. Worse yet I cant find a copy of my contract the bills dating back to when I signed mysteriously no longer on internet and Verizon can't provide me with a copy of the contract terms I signed. Worse I did not activate the phones for about 2 weeks after I got them so even though I paid for them for now 24 months I have to actually wait until the end of the 25th month to upgrade.... Thinking best to buy my own phone and find another provider. Even if I pay the bill that is due in a couple of weeks that pays the 25th month they I am still considered as terminating my contract. Guess I will read the next contract more thoroughly. Didn't really realize that I could be held in breach of contract and called cancelling early even when I have more than paid out the life of the contract. Very very strange indeed. But I know ATT does not work this way because a friend just had the same thing - they paid the one bill left for the 24th month and then got a phone upgrade no penalty bec
ause they had paid their contract. Apparently keeping service for 24th months has nothing to do with my contract....Wish they could provide me my contract I don't remember anything like this.